Emmerdale viewers are still left in the dark about what really happened to Joe (played by Ned Porteous) last autumn.

However, one thing for certain is Graham (Andrew Scarborough) had some involvement with his disappearance.

And it seems, he is very close to revealing exactly what happened to Laurel (Charlotte Bellamy).

It comes after Kim Tate (Claire King) made her explosive and highly anticipated return to the village before Christmas and one of her very first demands was to get rid of Joe.

Unsatisfied with his work, she ordered Graham to get rid of him, but with the businessman having an emotional attachment to Joe, he gave him the opportunity to run away with a life-changing sum of money.

Whilst Joe initially agreed, he couldn’t leave Debbie Dingle (Charley Webb) behind and decided he would swing by the hospital chapel, where they were set to get married and leave with her in tow.

But, having delayed their wedding long enough, Cain Dingle (Jeff Hordley) went looking for his soon-to-be son-in-law and that is when the worst happened.

Anger taking control, Cain punched Joe causing him to fall and smash his head on a rock, to which Graham then declared him dead.

Yet viewers saw Joe’s finger’s twitch as Graham lifted him into his car – could he have just been unconscious instead of dead?

Nevertheless, Graham drove to an unknown location and took out a spade, walking into the distance.

It was presumed he had finished Joe off and buried him as the scene following saw him sitting in his car crying.

However, the soap did not show Joe’s body coming out of the car, being carried or buried. Could he have been alive and Graham gave him another chance to run away?

Since then, Graham has been playing with Debbie, making it look like Joe was still alive but had just jilted her.

Until recently when the mechanic received a series of parcels from her fiancé.

After Priya Sharma (Fiona Wade) clarified she had set up the presents following Joe’s wishes, Debbie filed a missing person’s report to the police, convinced her boyfriend was still alive and out there somewhere.

Worried Debbie was capable of finding out the truth, Graham has been turning to the bottle, even though he is meant to be recovering from alcoholism.

And this is where Laurel comes in. Earlier this week, Graham visited Laurel for a chat.

“Look I’m here if you ever need to talk to someone who has been through what you are going through.

“But Graham, what you really need is a sponsor. The meeting aren’t enough, you need that support,” she explained.

As a recovering alcoholic who has been sober for several years now, soap bosses seem to have directed Graham to Laurel.

Will she be his sponsor?

Scenes have already shown Graham fall off his recovery plan several times now, and should Debbie find another clue and go to confront him, will it edge him closer to the alcohol?

Thus in turn, Graham could turn up in the dark hours at Laurel’s house looking for someone to talk to.

In his drunken stupor, will he expose his involvement in Joe’s disappearance to Laurel?